..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

June 22, 2004

The Lies Michael Moore Is Using To Sell Fahrenheit 9/11
by David Poland

The following is a compendium of comments made by Michael Moore regarding the history of Fahrenheit 9/11 today on his website. This the best gathering of apocryphal stories created by Moore from a combination of the absolute truth and sheer bull in the last two months. This in no way indicts the film he has made. But these are the key factual falsehoods that Moore has spun in pursuit of selling tickets to his film.

1. "Roger Friedman At FOX News..."

Why even finish the sentence? Friedman writes what Harvey Weinstein tells him to write. But still...

1a. "...The Head Of The Company Which First Agreed To Fund Our Film 'Got Calls From Republican Friends' Pressuring Them To Back Out. And They Did.'

I'm not sure when Moore got shy about calling out Mel Gibson, but regardless, the "republican friends" theory (which used to be "the white house called..." theory) has been an unproven but assumed truth for some time. The ultimate truth is, no one in Hollywood could figure out why an arch-conservative like Gibson was funding Moore in the first place, except perhaps out of an interest in a fellow maverick. When this story is confirmed by someone other than Michael Moore (who doesn't put himself in harms way by confirming it here), i will accept it as truth.

2. "Michael Eisner Blocked Miramax From Releasing The Film Once It Was Finished."

Every source involved, including Moore, has admitted that Disney informed Miramax of their intent last April, which was before the first contract was signed. The notion that Miramax or Moore thought that Disney would change their mind after seeing the film is laughable. Additionally, the list of other major companies that had the opportunity to fund the film and did not, for the same reasons as Disney's choice not to distribute, is long.

2a. "Public Attention And Embarrassment Forced Disney To Let The Weinstein Brothers Of Miramax Find Another Distributor!"

Disney never once indicated that it would block the sale of this film. Moore has been selling the notion that Disney wanted to block the film, but there is absolutely no proof of the accusation and there has been nothing offered by Moore but innuendo.

3. "It Took Another Month To Find Distributors Who Would Take On This Movie."

Moore fails to mention negotiation tactics by the Weinsteins or the many companies who dropped out after being unwilling to accept terms, which included the release date and minimal returns on profits. There was never a chance that this movie wouldn't be distributed. Disney did play hardball in details of the negotiations with the Weinsteins. But in the end, the delay in setting the companies was the Weinsteins' and the Weinsteins' alone.